Worst murder: Police discover a dead man in a car parked in a driveway on Yancey Mill Lane November 13. Cause of death and identity of the victim have not been determined at press time.

Worst verdict for John Allen Muhammad: In the first sniper trial, a jury finds him guilty of capital murder in the death of Dean Meyers, and prosecutors ask for the death penalty.

Best verdict for real estate heir Robert Durst: Not guilty, which is what a Galveston jury found Durst, who says he accidentally killed his neighbor, then chopped him up and pitched the pieces into Galveston Bay.

Best decision for Darrell Rice: The accused killer of two women in the Shenandoah National Park in 1996 has his trial moved up from a date in August to March 29. The trial has been moved four times, most recently after new hairs turn up that are not linked to Rice but could come from the killer.

Best partnership for death penalty foes: The ACLU and Rutherford Institute issue a report calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in Virginia.

Best plea bargain: Rocky Fugett, accused of taking part in the February 19 murder of Nola Charles and her three-year-old son in Crozet, pleads guilty to two counts of first-degree murder November 12 and could receive two life sentences, Liesel Nowak reports in the Daily Progress.

Worst week for Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore: The defiant jurist is kicked out of office November 13 for refusing a federal judge's order to remove the massive Ten Commandments display Moore installed in the state courthouse rotunda.

Best filibuster: Republicans and Dems take to the Senate floor November 12-14 for a 39-hour talkathon, the longest since 1988. Democrats orate to block four Bush judicial nominees, Republicans to protest the Dem filibuster.

Worst new regs for seat-of-their pants vendors: City Council is poised to increase license fees to $400, make black the only approved tablecloth color, and tighten rules on clothes racks and open flames.

Worst whooping cough outbreak: 12 students have it, according to Claudia Pinto in the Daily Progress. Ten from Covenant and one each from Western Albemarle High and Henley Middle schools are infected.

Best decision for Wiccans: A federal judge rules they can't be excluded from opening board meetings with their own brand of prayer, as Chesterfield County officials had done.

Best new gig for Steve Landes: The Augusta County Republican Delegateis elected chair of the House GOP Caucus.

Best prof: The Carnegie Foundation chooses UVA's dean of arts and sciences, Edward L. Ayers, professor of the year.

Worst healthcare-worker shortage: Dentists.

Worst binge: A Louisa Food Lion assistant manager is convicted of stealing $100,000. David Dewberry admits to buying $20,000 worth of amphetamines in Charlottesville, Richmond, and Alabama during a week-long bender in July, Braxton Williams reports in the Progress. He's sentenced to 10 years, with all but six months suspended.